An IS machine for producing glass containers includes a plurality of stations which each comprise a blank mold and a finishing mold, and comprising a lubricating tool for lubricating at least some of the blank molds with a lubricant, the lubricating tool comprising a spray head for spraying the lubricant and comprising a robot connection, to which the spray head is fastened and by means of which the spray head is movable between different stations within the IS machine, wherein the spray head is reversibly detachably fastened to the robot connection by means of a coupling. This provides the option of protecting a robot manipulating the lubricating tool without high repair costs being incurred in the event of a collision.

The present invention relates to a particle filter (F) for a glass forming machine operating according to a blow-and-blow process or according to a press-and-blow process, said particle filter (F) is adapted for placing in at least an air channel (14a) serving pressurized air for counter blow (5) of a parison (P) in a blank mold (2) forming station of said glass forming machine, and/or an air channel (14b, 20) serving pressurized air for final blow (11) and/or for finish cooling (21) of a glass container (12) made of said parison (P) in a finish mold (8) station of said glass forming machine, said particle filter (F) comprising a surface filter as a main filter media (MF) and said particle filter (F), if placed in at least said air channel (14a) serving pressurized air for counter blow (5) of said parison (P) in said blank mold (2) forming station of said glass forming machine, and/or said air channel (14b, 20) serving pressurized air for final blow (11) and/or for finish cooling (21) of said glass container made of said parison (P) in said finish mold (8) station of said glass forming machine, avoiding passage of particles above a certain size from a dirty side of said main filter media (MF) to a clean side of said main filter media (MF) and thus, also avoiding final passage of said particles above said certain size into said parison (P) or said glass container (12) blown by said glass forming machine and a plunger unit (PU), a blow head (BH), a blow head support and a glass forming machine adapted for a particle filter (F) according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a roto-linear mechanism for a glassware forming machine adapted to be connected to a funnel-holding arm, a shutter arm, an arm for a blowing head or a similar mechanism, to simultaneously perform an axial and radial movement to each of such arms from a first position to form glass articles to a second position outside the forming process thereof.

An inverting mechanism of a glass forming machine includes: a supporting structure; a shaft horizontally located over the upper portion the supporting structure; drive means coupled to a shaft to provide rotational movement to the shaft; a cylindrical body having a longitudinal opening in an eccentric reference axis, which is coupled to the shaft through its longitudinal opening, in an eccentric position; at least one hollow cylinder coupled with each cylindrical body having attached supports to its outer part which are connected to neck ring holder arms so that, by means of a first sliding movement of the hollow cylinder on the cylindrical body, it provides a lateral movement to open and close the neck ring holder arm supports in parallel and, by means of a rotational movement, it moves the neck ring holder arms with a 180° movement from a parison mold to a finish blow mold.

This invention eliminates the need for a manual work of applying a mold release lubricant to blow molds and bottom molds by workers and reduces a burden on workers involved in the mold release lubricant application work while also increasing the safety of workers during mold release lubricant application, reducing downtime associated with the mold release lubricant application work, reducing changes in the mold release lubricant application locations and variations in amount of application for the blow molds, and, furthermore, contributing to a glass bottle quality stabilization. The application equipment (40) for applying the mold release lubricant is structured to apply the mold release lubricant to at least either a part of blow mold forming surfaces (31f) provided on the blow molds (31), or the entire surface of bottom mold forming surfaces (32f) provided on the bottom molds (32) located in the lower part of a finish molds (31), or both.

This invention eliminates the need for a manual work of applying a mold release lubricant to blow molds and bottom molds by workers and reduces a burden on workers involved in the mold release lubricant application work while also increasing the safety of workers during mold release lubricant application, reducing downtime associated with the mold release lubricant application work, reducing changes in the mold release lubricant application locations and variations in amount of application for the blow molds, and, furthermore, contributing to a glass bottle quality stabilization.

The application equipment (40) for applying the mold release lubricant is structured to apply the mold release lubricant to at least either a part of blow mold forming surfaces (31f) provided on the blow molds (31), or the entire surface of bottom mold forming surfaces (32f) provided on the bottom molds (32) located in the lower part of a finish molds (31), or both.

There is provided a method of manufacturing a glass container that can manufacture a glass container, which includes a bubble formed in a bottom portion and independent of the outside, with high yield by accurately controlling the position and size of the bubble. A method of manufacturing a glass container that includes a mouth portion, a body portion, and a bottom portion, includes: a step of molding a glass container, in which a bubble is not yet formed, from molten glass; a step of forming a bubble-forming passage by pulling out a needle-like member after inserting the needle-like member into a bottom portion of the glass container in which a bubble is not yet formed; a step of injecting air from an inlet of the bubble-forming passage to form a reverse teardrop-shaped internal space, which is widened in the bottom portion from the bubble-forming passage as a starting point, in the bottom portion of the glass container in which a bubble is not yet formed, and to obtain a glass container that includes an internal space communicating with the outside; and a step of closing an inlet side of the reverse teardrop-shaped internal space by flow of not yet cured glass, which is caused by the potential heat of the not yet cured glass, to obtain a glass container that includes a bubble formed in the bottom portion and independent of the outside.

An inverter unit for a hollow glassware forming machine comprises a supporting structure; a first and a second pick-and-place arm having one or more recesses for picking up glassware and coupled to such supporting structure so as to rotate about a first axis and so as to translate along such first axis between an open position and a closed position; and a centering device having a head, which can rotate about a second axis. The centering device also has a transmission mechanism, which converts the rotary motion of the head into a translational motion of the supporting structure along the first axis with respect to a fixed base.

An inverting mechanism of a glass forming machine includes: a supporting structure; a shaft horizontally located over the upper portion the supporting structure; drive means coupled to a shaft to provide rotational movement to the shaft; a cylindrical body having a longitudinal opening in an eccentric reference axis, which is coupled to the shaft through its longitudinal opening, in an eccentric position; at least one hollow cylinder coupled with each cylindrical body having attached supports to its outer part which are connected to neck ring holder arms so that, by means of a first sliding movement of the hollow cylinder on the cylindrical body, it provides a lateral movement to open and close the neck ring holder arm supports in parallel and, by means of a rotational movement, it moves the neck ring holder arms with a 180 movement from a parison mold to a finish blow mold.

A control unit configured to control a section of an I.S. machine having a blank station including a first plurality of mechanisms and a blow station including a second plurality of mechanisms is provided. The control unit includes an operator interface configured to receive a first input and a second input from an operator. The control unit includes a controller configured to transition the section from a first mode of operation to a second mode of operation. Upon receipt of the first input the control unit is configured to supply power to either the first or second plurality of mechanisms and not to supply power to the other. The control is configured to move one of the mechanisms to which power is being supplied in the second mode of operation based on the second input received from the operator.